Mining machine



Jun I7, 1947. s, MOORE 2,422,645

MINING MACHINE Filed July 15, I943 Attorney Patented June 17, 1947MINING MACHINE Matthew Smith Moore, Malvern, England, assignor ofone-half to The Mining Engineering Company Limited, Worcester, EnglandApplication July 15, 1943, Serial No. 494,824 In Great Britain July 25,1942 Section 3, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946. Patent expires July 25,1962 3 Claims.

In the extraction of coal from a coal seam a method is practised, termedsimultaneous cutting and loading. This may involve a combined cuttingand loading machine, with bar or comb on each side of a transverseconveyor as exemplified in Moores British Patent No. 441,413. In thiscombination, the machine consists of two main parts, the cutter, makinga horizontal out, and the loader. The cutter may be provided with acutting element for taking a vertical cut, termed the shearing jib, asshown in Moore and anothers British Patent No. 478,070. In some casesmore than one horizontal cut may be made. Operating with such anassembly means that the coal is extracted without the use of explosive,hydraulic or wedging means.

In other cases it is necessary only to undercut at pavement level, andto shear at the inner end of the undercut for the coal to collapse, andbe loaded out.

Whatever the machine assembly may be, the undercutting is done by orfrom the cutter portion.

By means of the present invention it becomes possible to dispense withthe undercutting means on the cutter portion, the loader bars, with thisobject in view, being arranged to combine the function of loader andcutter bar.

In some known early types of bar cutting machines the bar carrying thecutter picks not only rotated but reciprocated also in order to breakdown the ribs of coal which would normally be left between the groovescut by the picks without reciprocation.

In the preferred forms of the present invention the cutter picks arecombined with a loader comb between the teeth of which they pass as thecutter bar rotates, the coal as it is out being thus fed back by thecomb onto the transverse conveyor. As there is a tendency (greater inthe case of some coals) for the picks to leave ribs of coal betweenthem, the bar is also preferably furnished. with breaking or burstingmeans which follow in the tracks of the picks, but are shaped to engagethe sides or corners of the ribs to break them down.

Other parts of the invention are embodied in a typical form' illustratedby the accompanying drawings. The parts for which a monopoly is desiredare those set out in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a, plan view showing the jib of a combined cutting and loadingmachine,

Fig. 2 shows to an enlarged scale a short length 2 of barsectioned toshow a preferred form of pick,

and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same,

The jib illustrated in Fig. l is designed for cutting and loading ineither direction and will be carried by and derive the drive of the barsfrom a body part in the normal way. The bars I have picks 2 which passbetween the teeth 3 of the comb portions by which material picked up bythe teeth is delivered by suitably shelving parts 4 on to the transverseconveyor 5 which carries it back on to the face conveyor in theconventional manner. A conventional shearing jib indicated at 6 with oneof its cutter chain sprockets "I, is mounted on a plate or bracket 8 atthe end of the jib. The picks 2 are shown with shanks 9 inserted intoholes drilled through the bar I at right angles to the axis. The shanksextend through and project on the other side of the bar, theseprojections Ill being preferably of conical formation; the extension isless in height than the pick head, but wider at the base than the widthof the cutter track. Its action is to burst and break down the ribs ofcoal left between the gouged tracks of the cutters. While shown in onepiece with the cutters, it is obvious that the bursting members could beseparate, As can be seen from Fig. 1, the picks are spaced along thelength of the bar in one or more series of helical formations to helpgather the coal onto the conveyor.

Ribs left between the cutter tracks will thus be burst or broken by thewide conical shank ends; but since the extension of the projections I0is less than the height of the pick points beyond the bar, low ribs ofcoal will remain on the floor. To remove these, the second bar has thepicks positioned between the forward bar picks, so that the rear picksattack the ribs.

It will be understood that by reversing the shearing jib and suitablyengaging the drive of the bars the jib can be used in either direction,and can be used for cutting and loading either by moving it along theface or as the jib of a holing machine moved about a fixed centre. Theforward bar, which performs the cutting may in some cases only perform apartial loading, as when used on a face of less friable coal than issuited to the combined operation. In such a case the loading can becompleted by moving the jib back in the other direction, the second barwhich will then be acting as the forward bar serving simply as a loaderbar. The jib can then be used for cutting and partial loading inwhichever direction conditions dictate.

I claim:

1. In a mining machine, the combination of a transverse conveyor, atransverse rotatable bar on each side of the conveyor, cutter picks andbursting members carried by the bar on the forward side of the conveyor,a loader comb cooperating with the said picks to load back material asit is cut by the picks on to the conveyor, and members carried by thebar on the rear side of the conveyor and positioned between thepositions occupiedby the picks and bursting members on the forward sideof the conveyor.

2. In a combined cutting and loading device for mining, a cutting andloading bar adapted to cooperate with a loading comb and having cut tingpicks and shorter but wider bursting members which will follow oneanother between the teeth of the comb when the bar is rotated;

3. In a combined cutting and loading device for mining, a transversejib, a shearing jib mounted at the end of the transverse jib, a transverse conveyor running along the transverse jib,

a rotatable transverse cutter bar in advance of the conveyor, cuttingpicks being mounted on the bar, relatively wider bursting member mountedon the bar in rear of the cutting picks and a loader comb having teethbetween which the picks will pass as the cutter bar rotates andcooperating with the picks to feed back the material as it is cut on tothe conveyor.

MATTHEW SMITH MOORE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,079,353 Kuhn NOV. 25, 19131,519,147 Levin m Dec. 16,1924 1,930,616 Moore Oct. 10, 1933 2,1 %3189Moore Jan. 10,1939

